The Challenger Disaster By: Kathy Neuner & Jeremy Rider Executive Summary Many factors must be examined to find the underlying reason for the horrible disaster of the space shuttle Challenger. We will cover both the technical causes to the disaster and the communication breakdown with NASA. We will also look at the outside pressure that NASA was receiving from the media, congress and the military. Recommendations for NASA and anyone in the communication field will be given. These recommendations
Jake Hall Professor Ripley Engineering Ethics 29 May 2017 The Challenger Disaster Unfortunately, there is always risk when it comes to space flight. This makes it difficult to determine what constitutes an “Acceptable” risk. A space agency has many worries such as their reputation with the public and the world, the success of their missions, and most importantly the lives of their staff and astronauts. Engineers are usually technically gifted but lacking in organization. This spawns a need for non-technical
Americans witnessed the destruction of the breathtaking challenger space shuttle. Even though the disaster caused nationwide sadness, the reasons for its failure are clear. Named after the British ship that sailed across the Atlantic hundreds of years, could carry more than two thousand pounds the challenger was truly a glorious achievement.
investigation of the Challenger disaster. It was a cold morning when Challenger was supposed to fly into space. Several NASA officials urged that the launch be postponed for warmer weather conditions. Since the NASA Launch Decision Team had okayed several space shuttles launches at and below that present temperature and had gotten away with it, the order was ignored (Howell). Seventy-three seconds later NASA realized that their luck had finally run out. President Ronald Regan tasked the Disaster Authority Commission
The Challenger Disaster: Lessons for New Engineers The Space Shuttle challenger was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fl. Seventy-three seconds after launch, at an altitude of nine miles, the Challenger exploded, killing all seven crew members. The failure of the Challenger was led investigation by the Rogers Commission. The reason for the explosion was found to be the O-ring seal in the Solid Rockets Booster (SRB). The temperature on the launch date of the Challenger was
Before the Challenger disaster NASA was a company that once was never prepared to handle disaster. NASA experienced it’s first disaster in October of 1968 known as the Apollo. When the Apollo occurred NASA wasn't prepared and failed at protecting it’s company and discussing the publics concerns for the disaster. NASA at this time had no exact protocol on handling disasters and acted on impulse which contributed to NASA losing their reputation. After the Apollo disaster NASA made it best efforts
Background The Challenger disaster could have been avoided if Morton Thiokol management had had a backbone. The determination to launch the rocket was centered upon defective group decision support information and was further exacerbated by mismanagement of that information. The organizational, political, and economic needs were the criteria of the Shuttle’s management and engineering decisions. Furthermore, the Shuttle had to live up to the promises NASA had made to the public. Additionally
changes in the wake of the Challenger disaster started well before the lives of the astronauts were lost. The lack of centralization of management and the fact that different aspects of the organization had locations ranging from D.C. to Florida allowed for no one to really accept and own up to the fact that they were at fault. No one group or person took responsibility, so it was cast upon the entire NASA organization and no one took it upon themselves to make sure that a disaster of this caliber would
On January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan, comforting and empathetic in his speech entitled “Speech on the Challenger disaster”, facilitates the mourning process of the American people following the Challenger Disaster. He is able to accomplish this by connecting on a personal level with everyone affected by the tragedy: the school children, family of the deceased, and the entire American population. In addition, he explains specifically addresses the children with lessons to be learned, and how to move
The Challenger Disaster: Fated Before Liftoff In 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center people watched in awe for a little more than a minute before the shuttle exploded in flight. This was the first of only two major accidents that occurred during over two decades of NASA’s shuttle program and many would consider it to be a fluke that could not have been prevented or predicted. In truth the Challenger disaster was an accident waiting to happen and was a symptom